


A Kul Tiran Bouquet

by AnAvgAthr



Category: Warcraft - All Media Types, World of Warcraft
Genre: Herbalism, I'm Bad At Tagging, Love Is in the Air (Warcraft), M/M, Valentine's Day, kul tiran flowers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-15
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-16 04:15:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,569
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29447628
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnAvgAthr/pseuds/AnAvgAthr
Summary: Love is in the air over Boralus, but it's business as usual aboard the Wind's Redemption. As with every day, Flynn reports in with his usual chaos and charm. This time, however, he brought flowers.A short holiday piece inspired by Monoidea.
Relationships: Flynn Fairwind/Mathias Shaw
Comments: 9
Kudos: 54





	A Kul Tiran Bouquet

As far as he was concerned, it was a day just like any other. The _Wind's Redemption_ was sturdy in the dock under his feet: the soft lapping of waves sloshing below, the call of gulls echoing across the Boralus Harbor. Mathias Shaw stood (well, leaned, really) watch on deck. He had cleared the morning's work, and was busy seeing to the numerous adventurers who made their way up and down the gangplank.

Today, however, the comings and goings were a tad fewer. Save for those like him who had an obligation to duty or pressing matters, many others were off enjoying the celebrations of love that were occurring in the city proper. Someone had strung paper hearts on a string across the banister of the Redemption, which Shaw found charming if not a little overdone. Couples walked the promenade, and he could make out plenty of folks in all combinations walking arm in arm.

While life may have had different plans for him, he took no umbrage at the number of lovers along the docks and city streets today. Quite the opposite - although he'd never admit it. Mathias's responsibilities made him a less than optimal partner, and his lifestyle didn't permit for much companionship. He had made his peace with that fact long ago, and it made his life simpler for his dedication. And so, he took in the sights and joys of the citizens he protected and was pleasantly content. It was a gorgeous day for it, anyway: the sun was out and a gentle breeze was a welcome change from the harsh Kul Tiran winter that had thawed only recently.

A single voice carried louder than the others down on the pier, and Mathias couldn't help but catch a glimpse of a chestnut-brown ponytail that stood out amongst the crowd. He spotted Flynn Fairwind and Taelia Fordragon making their way past the _Redemption_. He couldn't make out what was being said, but it was hard to ignore Fairwind on a good day regardless of how much distance or din was between them. What did get Mathias's attention though was the interesting arrangement of flowers that he was carrying. The way he held them seemed to be an overly careful parody of his other arm, which was waving excitedly to emphasize whatever point he was making to his friend. At this distance he could only make out the colors, but the blues and purples dappled with orange reminded him of watching the sunset over the harbor.

He smiled at that, at least. Mathias hadn't worked with Flynn much at this point - just casual greetings and the passing of paperwork and Azerite reports. But the captain was deceptively clever, quick as a whip, and handsome to boot; it balanced the scales with long stories and crass jabs. Even those, however hard he rolled his eyes, he found some small satisfaction in. Mathias supposed he shouldn't be surprised to see Flynn, ever the flirt, on his way to deliver flowers to some lucky someone.

Not many had ever threatened to be so arrogant, so informal, or so inappropriate with the Spymaster - the fact that the captain wasn't afraid or wary of him was a very welcome change.He would've thought Flynn foolish if he hadn't seen his reports (or his questionably successful departure from freebooting), which somehow made him all that much more more intriguing. If Flynn insisted on being a peacock, he would happily let him have the spotlight and observe from the shadows.

Before he could lose himself in thought over it further, he noted that instead of passing the Redemption that Flynn had turned on his heel and strode up the gangplank while Taelia waited. She caught the Spymaster's eye and offered him a salute and a wink. Mathias had kept a careful distance from Bolvar's daughter; some secrets were easier and less painful to keep when you didn't have to constantly confront them. She was always delightful and kind though, and she and Flynn seemed nigh inseparable when off duty. He replied with a salute and a half-wave of his own as the _Middenwake’s_ Captain came aboard.

"Good afternoon, my favorite Brassiest-brass of the Alliance! Got yesterday's reports - anyone seen Wyrmbane?"

Flynn's informality was to be expected at this point. He grinned at Mathias as he crossed the deck towards the table covered over with maps and pins, extending a greeting to every soldier and hero along the way. Mathias sighed, and waited for an appropriate opportunity to interject with a response.

"He's below decks, but King Greymane will be --" was all he managed to get out before Flynn turned on him.

"Ah! Spymaster, always happy to see your delightfully welcoming face. Hold these for me, will you? They’re for… somebody special.” Flynn had shoved the bouquet of foreign flowers toward him, only stopping abruptly just short enough for Shaw to take them from him.

Mathias looked down to grab them by the stems, before looking back up to question the Kul Tiran. Before he could get a word out, though, the other man moved swift as a tempest towards the docks again. He had turned away quickly, but not before Mathias took note note of just how sunburned his cheeks were.

“King Greymane should be meeting with Cyrus, yeah?" Flynn called over his shoulder. Mathias noted that Flynn's ponytail was tickling a blush at the back of his neck; he could feel his own skin prickle where he imagined Flynn's ponytail teasing the sunburn, and wondered absently how it didn't seem to agitate the sailor in the slightest. "I'll just go hand it to him myself. Lovely seeing you all, keep your powder dry!"

And just like that Flynn Fairwind had come by, thoroughly distracted everyone aboard from whatever it was they should've been doing, and left Mathias holding a strange arrangement of flowers and a few questions. He rolled his eyes, wondering exactly what absurdities went through the other man’s head throughout the course of his day.

The flowers were beautiful, though. He was familiar with them by sight - almost all local flora to Kul Tiras, some of which he had only seen in books. The majority of the arrangement seemed to be Star Moss and Winter's Kiss, both beautiful and fully in bloom. The colors were vibrant purples and blues on soft petals, interwoven with pops of sturdy, orange Anchor Weed and even some Akunda's Bite (which he knew for certain was not local, although it seemed devoid of its usual electrical charges). The odder of the bunch were the Riverbud and Seastalks, being very much not of traditional beauty by Stormwind standards but certainly interesting. Binding them all together was a gorgeous green satin ribbon tied tightly around the stems.

And there he now stood (no longer leaning, really) on the deck of the _Wind's Redemption_ , watching the freebooter saunter back down to Taelia and off to the harbor master's office. She was clearly excited to tell Flynn about something, but further observation was interrupted by someone with a requisition for more troops. He applied his signature and seal, and turned back towards the direction of where he'd last seen the pair. He noted Flynn’s coat among those at the stalls and shops of the promenade instead, however, before losing the two of them in the crowd again. He puzzled at that slightly, but if they were meeting Cyrus as well it would make sense they might have an errand or two from him already.

After a time, though, he began to wonder just what exactly he should _do_ with the flowers. They smelled wonderful - their ambrosial fragrance danced on the breeze and tickled his nose, but he was getting curious looks from the infrequent champions coming and going. Mathias very much preferred to _not_ have eyes on him.

An older man dressed in a Priest's vestments had approached from the direction of the _Middenwake_. Perhaps there was a chance Flynn had returned to his post, and this man had seen him on his way over. He was quick to attend to the reports on the mission table, assigning his troops with stoic certainty before sealing the orders. Mathias called his attention as he was leaving towards the docks.

"Excuse me, you haven't seen Captain Fairwind today have you? He asked me to hold onto these and wandered off.” He gestured awkwardly towards the flowers.

The Priest gave a look up and down Mathias, clearly warring with respecting command but also having infinitely more pressing matters to attend to.

"I'm sorry, no. Haven't seen 'em. Guessing the Captain got you flowers, Master Shaw." And with that, he disappeared down the gangplank and into the crowds again.

Mathias could feel the color rising to his face, so he did the logical thing and looked down out of instinct to preserve his reputation. His gaze fell to the beautiful Kul Tiran sunset on the ocean that he held in his hands.

_The Captain got you flowers._

The words tumbled over and over in his head, reframing the day. The way Flynn had never produced the report, but had been holding flowers. The blush on his cheeks. The strange excitement (or panic?) in Taelia's expression when Flynn rejoined her on the waterfront. Once whittled down to the most direct and logical conclusion, the Spymaster found himself with only a single word in reply:

_Oh._

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Valentine's Day! This piece is inspired by [Monoidea's artwork](https://monoidea.tumblr.com/post/639055316919713792), with a gorgeous Kul Tiran bouquet and a very blushy Mathias Shaw. Thank you to [Mice](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mice), [JaguarMirror](https://archiveofourown.org/users/JaguarMirror), and [MilesHibernus](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MilesHibernus) for beta and editing!


End file.
